Maleeha Lodhi

Her Excellency Maliha Lodhi
17th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
In office 17 December 1999 – 4 August 2002
President	Pervez Musharraf Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
Preceded by	Riaz Khokhar
Succeeded by	Ashraf Qazi
In office 21 January 1994 – 30 January 1997
President	Farooq Leghari
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif Benazir Bhutto
Preceded by	Syeda Abida Hussain
Succeeded by	Riaz Khokhar
Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office April 1, 2003 – June 14, 2008
President	Pervez Musharraf
Prime Minister	Zafarullah Khan Jamali Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Shaukat Aziz
Preceded by	Abdul Kader Jaffer
Succeeded by	Wajid Shamsul Hasan

Maleeha Lodhi, (Urdu: مليحه لودهى;HI), is a Pakistani political scientist and a diplomat. She held the most-important diplomatic missions for Pakistan, first serving as the High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom and then as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States]]. In the Fall of 2008, she was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has also been a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament.

Early life

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Dr. Lodhi first received her school education in Lahore and Rawalpindi. She went on to receive her B.Sc. in Economics and/or Government in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1981, both from the London School of Economics. Her doctoral thesis was titled "Bhutto, the People’s Pakistan Party and political development in Pakistan,1867-1977". She then taught for a short while at the Quaid-i-Azam University, in Islamabad and at the London School of Economics for five years (1980–1985), before returning to Pakistan to work for and then edit the English language newspaper The Muslim (1987–1990). She later became the founding editor of The News International (1990–1993 and 1997–1999) and also became the first woman in Asia to edit a national daily newspaper.

Political career

Dr. Lodhi became the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States under two different Presidents: from 1994–1997 and then during 1999–2002 (in the process becoming Pakistan's longest ever serving Ambassador to the US), before relinquishing her post on the completion of her second tour of duty. Since 2001, she has also served on the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Affairs (2001–2005) and continued to do so while holding the post of Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2003–2008).

A recipient of the 2002 Hilal-i-Imtiaz Presidential Award for Public Service, she is the author of two essay collections: Pakistan’s Encounter with Democracy and The External Challenge (Vanguard and Lahore Jang Publications, 1994). Her latest book, Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State, was published in April 2011 (by C Hurst, Colombia University Press and Oxford University Press). In 1994, Time magazine cited Dr. Lodhi as one of 100 global pacesetters and leaders, who would define the 21st century and was the only person from Pakistan on that list.

Family

Lodhi was born to an upper-middle-class family. Her father worked as an executive for an oil company and was the first head of a British company in Pakistan post Partition. Her mother had received a B.A. in journalism and was offered a scholarship to study in the United States after graduating, but gave up a career in journalism to become a homemaker and look after her children. Lodhi has two siblings. Ms. Lodhi was married to a banker in London, but they divorced after five years of marriage. Together, they have a son named Faisal.

Awards

• The Hilal-i-Imtiaz award from Pakistan (2002)
• An Honorary Fellowship from the London School of Economics (2004)
• An Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from London’s Metropolitan University (2005)

Maleeha Lodhi's Articles

• A leaderless world
• Shifting Asia-Pacific landscape
• Exit plan but no strategy
• Free but fair trade
• Economics of elections
• Unknowns of the Afghan endgame
• The costs of delay

See also

• Sara Suleri Goodyear
• Syeda Abida Hussain
• Attiya Inayatullah
• Zubaida Jalal Khan
• Lubna Khalid
• Jugnu Mohsin
• Tahira Naqvi
• Sherry Rehman
• Fahmida Riaz
• Parveen Shakir
• Kamila Shamsie
• Bapsi Sidhwa
• List of Pakistani journalists

External links

• Center for Dialogues: New York University | Islamic World - U.S. - The West - Maleeha Lodhi (Pakistan)
• Emel: Issue 4 March / April 2004 - High Society to High Commission
• Harvard University: Institute of Politics | Former Fellows - Dr. Maleeha Lodhi
• Imran.com: Biography of Dr. Maleeha Lodhi | Once Again Ambassador - Islamic Republic of Pakistan
• Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination: Princeton University | 2008-2009 - Pakistan's Current Crisis
• The International Institute for Strategic Studies: Council - HE Dr Maleeha Lodhi
• The-South-Asian.com: Dr. Maleeha Lodhi - Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S.
• The Telegraph: Pakistan | Moderate voice of Islam - 27 September 2003
• United States Institute of Peace: Pakistan Security Challenges: Implications of the AFPAK Strategy - A Discussion with Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi
• Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace: High Commissioner / High Commission for Pakistan in the United Kingdom